"The Texas Observer" Runs A DNA Database For The Lost Dead

Families who have lost loved ones at the border of Mexico and Texas now have a place online to try and identify last possessions and potentially, remains. The Texas Observer in partnership with Baylor University and the University of North Texas have created a photographic database of personal belongings tied to those unidentifiable people who died in their attempts to cross the Mexican-American border. The online database, called yotengonombre.com, translated in English to "I Have a Name," began this year in 2016.

According to the site, over 6,000 people have died trying to cross over to the U.S. between 2000 and 2015 due to exposure and/or injury. The project's main focus is based off the fact that the remains of the individuals found have not been handled appropriately, being dumped into mass graves without adequate categorizations, dates, and record keeping. The site is run by the Texas Observer and serves as a database of personal effects and DNA that are continuously coming online as forensics from both Universities exhume past dead and follow up on the recently deceased.